October 21, 2008 Bank of Canada lowers overnight rate target by 1/4 percentage point to 2 1/4 per cent Media Relations Ottawa, Ontario The Bank of Canada today announced that it is lowering its target for the overnight rate by one-quarter of a percentage point to 2 1/4 per cent. The operating band for the overnight rate is correspondingly lowered, and the Bank Rate is now 2 1/2 per cent. Content Type(s): Press, Press releases
October 21, 2008 Results of the 21 October 2008 Term PRA Transaction The results of today's term PRA operations are as follows: Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
Are There Canada-U.S. Differences in SME Financing? Staff Working Paper 2008-41 Danny Leung, Césaire Meh, Yaz Terajima Previous surveys of Canadian and U.S. business owners suggest that access to financing in Canada may be more problematic than in the United States. Using the 2003 Survey of Small Business Financing in the United States and the 2004 Survey on Financing of Small and Medium Enterprises in Canada, this paper examines whether this perception can be better quantified. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial services JEL Code(s): C, C2, C21, G, G2, G21
October 20, 2008 Bank of Canada to Sell Treasury Bills for Balance Sheet Management Purposes The Bank of Canada announced today it will sell $0.55 billion of its holdings of treasury bills. This transaction will partially offset the temporary increase in assets associated with the term purchase and resale transactions announced today. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
October 20, 2008 Bank of Canada Announces Details of its 91 Day Term PRA Transaction In accordance with the schedule of Term PRA auctions announced on 3 October, the Bank of Canada announced today that it will enter into a 91-day Purchase and Resale Agreement (PRA) transaction as follows: Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
Price Level Targeting in a Small Open Economy with Financial Frictions: Welfare Analysis Staff Working Paper 2008-40 Ali Dib, Caterina Mendicino, Yahong Zhang How important are the benefits of low price-level uncertainty? This paper explores the desirability of price-level path targeting in an estimated DSGE model fit to Canadian data. The policy implications are based on social welfare evaluations. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Financial stability, Inflation and prices, Monetary policy framework JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, E32, E5, E52
October 17, 2008 Bank of Canada Announces Further Details of its Term PRA Facility for Private Sector Money Market Instruments The Bank of Canada announced today further details of its temporary additional Term Purchase and Resale Agreement (PRA) facility for private sector money market instruments. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
October 17, 2008 Bank of Canada Initiative to Allow Substitution of Canadian-Dollar Non-Mortgage Loan Portfolio for Current LVTS Collateral This note briefly explains the Bank of Canada initiative to allow Large Value Transfer System (LVTS) participants to substitute their non-mortgage loan portfolio for current LVTS collateral, which is composed of marketable securities that have collateral value outside of the LVTS. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
October 17, 2008 New measures to provide liquidity to the Canadian financial system Further to its 14 October announcement of new measures to provide liquidity to the Canadian financial system, the Bank of Canada releases further details on a term Purchase and Resale Agreement facility for private-sector money market instruments, and temporary acceptance of non-mortgage loan portfolios as eligible collateral for Large Value Transfer System and standing liquidity facility purposes. Content Type(s): Press, Market notices
Import Price Dynamics in Major Advanced Economies and Heterogeneity in Exchange Rate Pass-Through Staff Working Paper 2008-39 Stephane Dees, Matthias Burgert, Nicolas Parent This paper aims at showing heterogeneity in the degree of exchange rate pass-through to import prices in major advanced economies at three different levels: 1) across destination markets; 2) across types of exporters (distinguishing developed economy from emerging economy exporters); and 3) over time. Content Type(s): Staff research, Staff working papers Topic(s): Exchange rates, Inflation and prices JEL Code(s): E, E3, E31, F, F3, F4, F41